Summer Reading 2009 (ongoing)

[Tuly]

Yeah!! people are reading.
I read some more children's books.
1. We're Back - A Dinosaur's Story by Hudson Talbott
2. An Egg Is An Egg by Nicki Weiss.
3. Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young (A 1993 Caldecott Honor Award
4. Maggie And The Monster by Elizabeth Winthrop, illus. by Tomie dePaola.
5. Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present by Charlotte Zolotow, illus. by Maurice Sendak.
6. The Red Mitten - A Sullivan Associates Reader (not one of my favorites)
7. The Field Beyond The Outfield by Mark Teague.

[Tuly]

I finally read this collection of children's poetry.

1. Sing a Song of Popcorn - Every Child's Book of Poems. Selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers. Illustrated by nine Caldecott Medal artists.

[Tuly]

I must say this has been one of the funnest summers I have had in summer reading. Partly because the books I'm reading are for children. Now that I don't have small children and those that are in our house have great parents that read to them often. I have forgotten how wonderful books for younger children are - I absolutely love them and the feelings I get when I read them. Maybe they just bring back some incredible memories that I have had of reading to my children. Alas, here are the books I read lately.
1. Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling Clancy Holling. I absolutely loved this book!!
2. Tales of Oliver Pig by Jean Van Leeuwen, illus by Arnold Lobel.
3. It's Me by Yehuda Atlas, illus by Danny Kerman. Kind of a strange book.
4. Andy and the Lion by James Daugherty.
5. The Magician by Uri Shulevitz.

[John]

Paddle-to-the-sea [ibid]
I learned a great deal about Great Lakes geography.

It's Me [ibid]
I didn't find it strange, but empathetic to the heart of a child.
I didn't particularly care for the illustrations.

[Tuly]

Just finished -
1. The House on Maple Street by Bonnie Pryor, illus. by Beth Peck
2. A First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.

Just a reminder - August 31st is the last day of our Summer Reading 2009 club. Please all, share with all of us what you have read this summer. Textbooks, children's books, poems any genre - whatever you have read counts.

[Tuly]

More fun reads for all ages.

1. Home in the Sky by Jeannie Baker
2. Raisel's Riddle by Erica Silverman, illus by Susan Gaber. This is the Jewish version of Cinderella.

[John]

I'm starting the idiot.
Dostoevsy.

[Lily]

Candide, Voltaire

[Tuly]

It took me awhile to finish Ties That Stress - The New Family Imbalance by David Elkind. Not because it was long but because there was so much for me digest. It is a worthwhile read. I quote from the book.

"Many of today's parents - offspring of the modern nuclear family but also products of the social upheavals of the 1960s and 70s and the economic pressures of the 1980s and 90s - no longer regard themselves as solely responsible for meeting the emotional needs of their offspring. Many of them do not think of children and youth as requiring a full helping of security, protection, firm limits, and clear values, and many of those who still believe in the goodness of those things no longer have faith in their ability as parents to provide them in today's complex world."

[Tuly]

Wow! where has the summer gone? I know it's still hot everywhere, but tomorrow is still the first day of September. Today is the last day to report your summer reading, you young parents mention the books you read to your little ones. Any favorite ones?

[Bryn]

Well, now that I've had some more time I've been able to get to more reading. I finished The Infinite Atonement, and I just reread The Great Gatsby, and I'm going though The Story of Philosophy. Hooray for free time. I also read Hitler Youth while in California. When I get home I'll finish John Adams, then have a light read of something before I read the Lord of the Rings series, but I guess those won't count as summer reading.

[Lily]

About to finish These Is My Words by Nancy Turner, and am about to start C.S. Lewis' Letters to Children.

I can't keep track of all the children's books we've read this summer, but they have been numerous and great! Right now Jane is loving the "How Does a Dinosaur" series by Yolen/Teague, Mother Goose, and the little Golden Children's Dictionary we got from the bounty of recently acquired books.

[Ian]

here's my summer list. i would recommend all of them, except for the quinn book and the marquez book.

Avi, Crispin: At the Edge of the World
Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson, Raising Cain
Alison Weir, The Wars of the Roses
Henry Eyring, The Faith of a Scientist
Kate DiCamillo, The Tale of Despereaux
D. Michael Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View
Alison Weir, The Princes in the Tower
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress
Andrew Clements, Frindle
Garbriel Garcia Marquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Edward Bloor, Tangerine
Richard Peck, A Long Way from Chicago
Seamus Heaney (translator), Beowulf
Lloyd Alexander, The Book of Three
Richard Peck, A Year Down Yonder
Jenny Nimmo, Midnight for Charlie Bone
Andrew Clements, Things Not Seen
Louis Sachar, Holes
Andrew Clements, Things Hoped For
Jenny Nimmo, Charlie Bone and the Time Twister
Jane Austen, Emma
Lloyd Alexander, The Black Cauldron

[Angela]

Richard Peck, A Long Way from Chicago
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Children of Hurin
Robert McCloskey, More Adventures of Homer Price
Richard Peck, A Year Down Yonder
Jane Yolen, The Devil's Arithmetic
Kathryn Paterson, The Sign of the Chrysanthemum
Robert C. O'Brien, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Alison Weir, Eleanor of Acquitane
Bette Bao Lord, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
Virginia Sorensen, Miracles on Maple Hill

I recommend all of these books, I'm only saddened to not have accomplished more. I took too much time reading Eleanor of Acquitane.

[Ann]

Finally finished John Adams and loved it.
Recommend Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth, reread certain chapters in my OB/GYN book from med school, also a book produced by ACOG (American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists) and one from American Academy of Pediatrics.
Also read Letters (collection of Sister Hinckley's letters to family members)
The Great Gatsby
Finding Peace, Happiness, and Joy by Elder Richard G. Scott
In May, I read/studied a lot of Pulmology/Critical Care topics; in June, I read about cardiology; July - clinical research; currently just starting to study about histoplasmosis (an endemic fungal infection) in preparation for a conference I will be presenting at in Chicago in a few weeks.
National Geographic summer issues